Category: theatre

“Roughly one-fifth” – 22%, actually – “of the productions staged at hundreds of theaters nationwide over the past three seasons were written by women, according to a study to be released Friday.” That’s up five percentage points from 2002.

“The tribunal centred on whether the actors could be classed as “workers” under law – and therefore entitled to the minimum wage. But the judge decided they should be regarded as self-employed professionals.”

Michelle Terry (currently playing Rosalind at Shakespeare’s Globe): “Going into the forest of Arden, disguised as a man, means she gets to explore every possible version of herself.” Ronald Pickup (played Rosalind in Olivier’s all-male production at the Old Vic in 1967): “I was watching a rehearsal in the Old Vic when John Dexter … leaned over and said: ‘Get a fucking pair of legs. You’re going to play Rosalind in a year’s time.'”

Producer Cameron Mackintosh: “We wanted to get into the grit of the opera house and the lair and make it far more atmospheric, in a stylized realistic way. … It’s a much more visceral show … more a musical play – a gothic musical play.”

Nick Silvestri, age 19, in a prepared statement: “I don’t go to plays very much, and I didn’t realize that the stage is considered off limits. I’ve learned a lot about the theater in the past few days – theater people are really passionate and have been very willing to educate me.” But the Hand to God publicists organized the event. Does that mean the entire thing was a publicity stunt?

“Says Necheles, ‘This is a musical based on the exploration of what it means to be famous and how people react to that fame.’
Says Shell: ‘In essence it focuses on a person I believe to have been the first reality TV star, a regular person who became famous basically by being herself.'”

“Mr. Miranda, at an airport on his way to a vacation with his wife in Mexico, picked up a copy of ‘Alexander Hamilton,’ a 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. By the second chapter, Mr. Miranda thought the story was made for hip-hop: Hamilton, an orphaned immigrant, plays a key role both in the American Revolution and in the nation’s foundational years, only to stumble with a sex scandal and to die in a duel. Hamilton’s childhood, Mr. Miranda said, made him think of Jay Z’s early days in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, and Eminem’s upbringing in Detroit.”

“Here’s what I’m wondering. Why haven’t theaters, which have known about this problem for eons, taken a harder line on behalf of their own audiences and productions? Why, in all these years, hasn’t a deterrent been found? … At the point at which actors no longer feel they can do their jobs, management is required to step up.”